SOS
by wuemsel
Summary: Surprise Karaoke Night at the "Dancing Dachshund".


Thanks to Vermilion Angel for the great beta and for letting me invite her OC Cutter.

I own everyone in that pub but Murphy, Doyle, Cutter and Bodie. Actually, I own the pub, too, but not the songs.

**Warning: **Contains an "ABBA" song.

Enjoy.

**S.O.S.**

_by wuemsel_

Turned out it was Surprise Karaoke Night at the "Dancing Dachshund".

Darcy claimed he hadn't known about that when suggesting they go there, but neither Murphy, nor Cutter, Pete Fielding, Bodie or Doyle really believed him.

And not only because the bartender had greeted him by name, though that had been the first indication.

Then again, the evening was supposed to be about Darcy, to distract him from his troubles with Elizabeth, his girlfriend, so if he wanted to listen to Dutch tourists sing "Streets of London" so be it.

It was surprise karaoke because you couldn't choose the song beforehand. You had to go with whatever they started playing once you were up on the stage.

The place wasn't packed, but still reasonably crowded, and while Doyle could have done with different background music, he had to admit it was a nice place, even though the walls were plastered with pictures of dachshunds and ballet dancers.

As it was all about distracting Darcy, Cutter and Bodie kept ordering pints and whiskey chasers for him and nodded in manly understanding, when Darcy made Elizabeth-related comments.

Bodie was still on pain meds, having come out of a recent op with a leg injury, so he stuck to hot chocolate. If he wasn't reflexively reaching for Doyle's drink, of course, thinking it was his. So far, Doyle had caught him taking a gulp twice, and each time Bodie had looked genuinely surprised at Doyle's pointed look, then put the pint down again with an apologetic smile.

As the evening went on, Doyle found himself drawn into a discussion about "Star Wars" with Murphy, and he didn't even notice Bodie and Darcy had left the table, until Cutter interrupted their heated debate with an "oi" and pointed at the stage, where a giddily grinning Bodie tried his best to keep a stone drunk Darcy upright, while maintaining his own balance with his crutch.

When the karaoke machine spit out the first horribly disfigured notes of ABBA's "S.O.S.", the sitting agents exchanged amused glances, but it wasn't after Bodie and Darcy had missed their cue that Murphy started to chuckle.

Cutter was grinning at Doyle, and Doyle was wondering why his pint was empty.

Pete Fielding, Darcy's partner, was observing the stage with a troubled expression, apparently half worried and half worried that it might be inappropriate to worry.

Darcy had found the autocue now and squinted at it, stumbling into the second line of the lyrics. His singing was completely out of tune, but it was compensated by volume.

Bodie wore the universal karaoke-virgin-expression of "It has verses, too?!" and sort of hummed a background tune, until the chorus started.

"So when you seeeee me, daaahlin'..."

Doyle cringed at the sudden increase in volume and saw Cutter do the same. Murphy was too busy singing along to notice.

"... Can't you feel me - S.O.S.!"

On the stage, Bodie grimaced a little, too, turning his head. Taking his hand off the crutch, he gestured for the audience to join in, and when they did, he kept waving his hand, until Darcy's wailing was almost drowned out. It only spurred him on, of course.

Impressed by his partner's sneakiness, Doyle watched Bodie nudge Darcy a step away from the microphone, making it look like he was steadying the swaying agent. Darcy even grinned at him gratefully.

The chorus went on. Everyone except Cutter and Doyle was singing by now. Pete seemed to merely move his lips, though Doyle couldn't be sure if he was just too quiet to be heard over the noise.

Doyle could feel the room vibrate; the glasses on their table hopped around like a bunch of half-cut businessmen who really wanted to dance but couldn't get past their embarrassment.

"When you're goooone, how can I even try to go ooooon?"

Darcy was completely engrossed in his performance by now, his cross-eyed expression grave with concentration.

Bodie had found a particularly cheerful looking redhead sitting close to the stage with her girlfriends and was solely singing for her/at her. He shrugged helplessly when the second verse

started and was making a show out of just humming along again, but turned his head at a sudden change in Darcy's voice.

"... I used to be alive, but something died, I fear..." Darcy sang-yelled and heaved a deep sigh.

Alarmed, Bodie shook Darcy's shoulders a little and when that had no effect looked for their table, pointing frantically at Darcy once he'd made eye contact with his colleagues.

"Whatever happened toooo our love..." wailed Darcy, one octave away from a sob, and even from back where they sat Doyle thought his eyes looked teary.

With the efficiency of the well-trained agent that he was, Murphy grabbed the full pint he'd just got, shoved a shot glass in Doyle's hand and dragged him up and over to the stage, where he handed the glass to Bodie, who gave it to Darcy, who instantly cheered up and spilled half of it on his shirt as he drained it.

Doyle stood around with his shot glass, using the opportunity to check out the girl-crowded table Bodie's flirt-interest sat at, then frowned slightly, when Murphy's voice resounded loud and clear, singing the last line of the verse.

He barely had time to turn his head and wonder when Murphy had got behind the microphone before Darcy reached out for the shot glass and almost fell off the stage. Holding on to his arm, Doyle tried to get Bodie's attention, but his partner was busy enchanting the redhead again.

Next thing Doyle knew, he was up on the stage, too, Darcy leaning heavily into his steadying grip and Bodie acknowledging his display of musical bravery with a grin and a thumbs up.

The chorus started again. Doyle wished he was still sitting in the midst of the noise, where the audience would drown Darcy's wailing out now that Murphy had claimed the mike. From this close, he also noticed Bodie really only knew the "S.O.S." part and was making up the rest, while still flirting with the girl at the table, who was passionately yelling along.

A new voice joined in on "how can I even try to go on", and Doyle was shocked to realise it was his own. He drained the shot glass, but the contents only made him sing louder.

In the distance, he saw Cutter holding back Pete, who appeared to have been getting up to... join them?

A sudden sagging weight to his left made Doyle turn around in time to prevent Darcy from crashing into Murphy.

Darcy lifted his head to frown at Doyle as if trying to remember his name. Just as his eyes lit up with recognition, he stumbled and fell half off the stage, still holding on to Murphy.

Murphy shoved the mike into Doyle's hands, then without his usual grace but also without falling flat on his face jumped off the stage and dragged Darcy off in the direction of the restroom. He never stopped singing.

Doyle watched after them, noticing that he was still singing, too and thinking he was probably more drunk than he'd thought.

He lifted his shot glass again, only to find it empty and turned to Bodie, whom, as he suddenly realised, he couldn't hear singing anymore.

Of course you couldn't sing AND be snogged at the same time, could you?

When had that redhead made it up on the stage? Doyle wondered. Bodie's crutch was on the floor in front of the stage, so she had probably climbed up to offer support. Which she was definitely giving.

Doyle turned his head again to see Murphy and Darcy gone and Cutter talking to the guy at the karaoke machine control, while waving at the audience.

'What's he doing there?' Doyle thought. 'Why am I still singing?'

Well, he was drunk, that was a good enough excuse. Surely the blasted song would end soon, anyway, right?

"When you're gooooone, how can..."

Once he looked at the audience again, Doyle suddenly noticed he was the only one singing by now. The karaoke machine was still blaring away, and so was he, but the yelling crowd had miraculously silenced.

"... I even..." Doyle sang-muttered, his confused glance settling on a very guilty looking Pete Fielding, who shrugged apologetically.

Doyle looked at Cutter.

Cutter grinned and lifted his pint in a giddy toast.

'Bugger,' Doyle thought, and then, 'Oh, what the hell.'

"... Tryyyyyyy to move ooooon," he finished in an extra loud wail.

Instant applause drowned the rest of the notes.

Cutter and the guy at the karaoke machine whistled loudly, as did the girls from redhead's table, including redhead herself. At some point during Doyle's grand finale she apparently had led (or dragged) Bodie off the stage and to the table, where he sat with a big grin, yelling "Encore!" until people joined in.

Doyle had taken a few bows, but at the increasing cry for an encore quickly put the microphone back on its holder.

His hands were still on it, when the first notes to "Piano Man" resounded. The audience cheered, and Doyle suddenly felt a tug at the leg of his jeans. Looking down, he saw Cutter holding out a pint for him.

"Show must go on," he grinned, shoving the pint at Doyle, until he took it, then stepped back and lit a lighter.

Over at redhead's table the girls and Bodie did the same.

Apparently at a loss for a lighter, Pete Fielding broke the candle on the table out of its wine bottle holder and waved that. Once more, he shrugged apologetically, looking for all the world like he was not enjoying doing this.

The autocue started, and Doyle sighed. Sod it, maybe Murphy would return soon, that old stage stealer. Until then...

He started to sing.

**THE END**


End file.
